Toronto-based fashion lable draw controversy with “Dsquaw”
Canadian fashion designers Dean and Dan Caten have recently come under fire for a clothing line they unveiled at Milan Fashion Week on Monday, March, 2. The brothers – the creators of the Dsquared2 fashion line – unveiled a line of clothing seemingly inspired by Aboriginal culture.
According to their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts, the brothers’ clothing line, dubbed #Dsquaw, was partly inspired by “Canadian Indian tribes.” However, the term “squaw” carries a deeply offensive legacy, and is considered a term of insult or slander directed at North American Aboriginal people. “Squaw” is a modified form of an Algonquin morpheme that means “woman.”
Dean and Dan Caten, creators of Dsquared, have come under fire for their controversial new line.
In a post published by Windspeaker News, an Aboriginal community publication, the term is explained to be a, “vile offensive slur directed at Native women.”
According to the Dsquared2 website, the collection of clothes represented “the enchantment of Canadian Indian tribes” and “the confident attitude of the British aristocracy.”
“In a captivating play on contrasts: an ode to America’s native tribes meets the noble spirit of Old Europe,” the line’s website reads, “magic and mysterious tribal influences meld with royal references in a bold, quite eccentric aesthetic, revealing luxurious materials and high-end, artisanal details.”
However, since the fashion duo unveiled their fashion line, users online have been quick to challenge the designs as racist, and indicative of a dark past in Canadian, North American history as a whole.
“Make it Dsquaw and voila, it’s a fashion line full of honour?” said the same Windspeaker News post. “No, still vile!”
While some have been harshly critical of Dsquared2 for their appropriation of Aboriginal culture, others have been vocal about the sovereignty of individual nations. To some critics, the fact that Dsquared2 produced a line of clothing hoping to showcase the history of Aboriginals in North America without speaking to the many individual nations within the “Aboriginal” umbrella is especially insensitive.
In spite of the large amount of critical backlash levied at the Toronto fashion duo, some fashion reviewers have praised the Caten brothers for their style. Tim Blanks, a writer for Style.com praised the Catens’ creativity and “research.”
“The sweeping staircase was a surprisingly stark set for a Dsquared2 show, but Dead and Dan Caten insisted that, for their next 20 years, the spectacle will henceforth be concentrated in the clothes,” said Blanks in his March 2 review. “[The Caten brothers] made a very good start with their presentation today.”
At the time of this writing, the Dsquared2 website contains the line’s original description text, as well as the images from the Milan fashion show. However, there is no mention of the Dsquaw label.